Reprinted with permission from the original authors:
Pastor John Collins, Wyoming evangelist: God resists the proud
Pride and humility.
We are a proud people here in the United States. We have so much that we have accomplished, the
rest of the world sometimes looks at us in disgust because we give the appearance
of not being satisfied. It’s never enough and we draw attention to
ourselves where ever we go. Celebrities
are recognized
and lifted up as examples
for us to live
by. Through all of the media,
it’s “look what I can do”. God
resists the proud.
Pride will not
get any soul
into heaven.
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18
Our faith
as Christians
today doesn’t measure
up to the faith
of Abraham,
of Noah,
of Moses,
of David. These men were humble
to begin with and knew
the value
and spirit
of humility
before God. Our pride gets in the
way. How would God
choose from among
us today? We often don’t have the strength of faith
to worship
Him, let alone look beyond what our human hands and minds create and put before God.
Our offerings of ourselves
lack humility. We need to let go of pride
and ego, let go of the pride that we have accomplished
something and let God
and Jesus Christ
work in our lives.
Evangelist Pastor John Collins began a revival of awakening in Wyoming.
That awakening
stirs the spirit
of those who hear him. From a pulpit or
behind the microphone
of a recording
studio, his words are Biblically
correct. Being Biblically
correct in a very politically
correct world is
difficult for most of the strongest
of Christians
today. Pastor Collins does
it well and puts pride
and humility
into this perspective:
“Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, ‘Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.’” Luke 9:46-48
Who is worthy
to be lifted up? How does God
choose those that He would separate
and use for His purposes?
He chose Abraham and Abraham was
considered a friend of God’s. He chose David and David was a man after God’s own
heart. He sent
His Son who died
for us all. Even those
who walked with Jesus thought
of themselves
and the impact
that they would have on this world.
This is so
wonderful to know that the human instinct to desire
to rise above and be
great was felt in
those men who walked with Christ. This
allows
us to recognize this
in ourselves and work to overcome that ego.
They were corrected
and they learned
what true
humility is. They witnessed
their Lord humble
Himself to the Cross. Yet there are so many that want to be great in the name of the Lord. They call attention
to themselves and think highly of themselves.
But, God
resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Believe me
when I tell you that God
knows what He is doing
and He knows
our hearts.
Pastor John Collins of Love That Cross Wyoming Revival continues on: God has no use for pride.
God
does not want servants
that think highly
of themselves and their eligibility.
God wants people
to serve Him that are humble of heart.
When we choose to
walk with Jesus
it should be with a pure heart
and a true
devotion to obedience
to the Lord. We should never
seek our own
acclaim. We should not care
what others
think of us. We should be concerned
only with whether we are an asset
to the kingdom of God
or a burden.
If we have selfish
ambition in our heart
and a desire
to stand
out and be important, we are seeking status in this
life and we are then unworthy to be
a true servant
of the Lord.
We must be careful
when we desire to leave a name for ourselves, to want to be
recognized for our importance or to be valued
among men. A truly worthy
person that will serve
God well is a person that has no
ambition in his heart. This person thinks of salvation when he looks upon the souls
of this world. This person has sadness
in his heart because of the condition of
the human race. This person worries of the state of others’ faith in their
lives. This person considers
opportunities to share the gospel and help others
come to Jesus. This person
wants to see
others go to heaven
and lives his life as an example. This person will sacrifice and find ways to be a light in a world of dark. This
person will please God.
“Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” James 2:5
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:3-6
Learning to be humble
takes a commitment to become
obedient to God. In order to become obedient to
God, we need to learn to draw near
to Him in prayer and through the words in the Holy Bible. God wants each of us to have the opportunity
to come to know Him, so that we all can go home
to Him one day. That is the reason
He sent His Son Jesus Christ, for our salvation through His
sacrifice on the Cross. Jesus
humbly accepted the punishment
of our sins, died publicly in humility and obedience. God won’t ask us to do anything that He won’t
equip us to handle. We can become
obedient and humble ourselves before God, just as His Son did. God wants us to come to know Him and His
love, to help us with our lives and be part of our lives here in this
world. Pride and ego turns us from
God. To be meek, to be poor in spirit
means to be humble; we need to learn the humility of Christ. Bring back God in
our lives, come humbly to the foot of the Cross.
“God is never secondary in my life, He is always Primary”- Pastor John Collins, Evangelist.
